Random Thoughts During an Unseasonal Heatwave........

Reconsider ! Postpone ! Delay ! These are the words which immediately jump to mind when contemplating the decision-making process currently in favor in the council chamber at Ottawa's city hall.
So Councillor (and mayor wannabe) Alex Cullen did not disappoint when he took a look at the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG)'s magnificent plan for Lansdowne Park and loundly proclaimed that any decision on moving forward with the plan should be left to the new council which will be elected on October 25.
We can only hope that he, along with several other councillors who also exhibit a reluctance to make the hard decisions, are put out to pasture by weary taxpayers who've had a bellyful of tax, spend and nothing to show for it.
Citizen Ellie likes the OSEG plan. She also likes Plan E which is one of the five plans for the parkland adjacent to the canal which were released earlier. All of these plans can be viewed on the city's web site and Citizen Ellie suggests that before you make up your mind, take a good look at what's on offer so you'll be in a position to make an informed decision.
Citizen Ellie is also sick and tired of efforts made by certain community groups, aided and abetted by their elected representatives, to "demonize" the principals of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group in the hope that this demonization will turn the citizenry against Lansdowne development.
On the contrary. While public-private partnerships are hated by unions and their left-leaning supporters, most thinking people see such partnerships as a reasonable way of getting things accomplished at a time when public funds are stretched to the limit. It's time everyone realized that the property tax base is not cash cow which can be milked incessantly. When homeowners' property tax payments exceed their mortgage payments, something is drastically wrong with the system.
Citizen Ellie believes it's time to get on with it at Lansdowne. OSEG's design for rehabilitation of the stadium/Civic Centre along with retail and residential components is good for the city and will turn the current wasteland into a showpiece. OSEG has met all the city's requirements, and for someone who wants to be mayor to suggest at this late date, after OSEG has spent a ton of money on architect's fees etc., that decisions be delayed until a new council is in place is a slap in the face to Roger Greenberg, Jeff Hunt et al, and tantamount to asking for another lawsuit. It's no wonder Ottawans shake their heads and snicker when talk turns to municipal affairs.

Shall We Dance ?
Try as hard as he might, Councillor (and mayor wannabe) Alex Cullen can't get his chief opponent (some say shoo-in) for the mayor's chair, Jim Watson, to engage in debate.
Earlier this week Councillor Cullen had a campaign ad in the local newspapers setting out some of the things he would do if elected mayor and he's miffed that Jim Watson hasn't done the same.
One of these items is giving Citizen Ellie and her property taxpaying friends heartburn.
Due to the province uploading some of the costly services it downloaded on municipal ratepayers a decade ago, the city will have approximately $23 million in revenues which it doesn't have to send to Toronto.
One might reasonably expect that this $23 million could come back to the ratepayers in the form of a rebate cheque or perhaps a reduction in next year's taxes. Not if you elect Councillor Cullen as mayor. He has plans for that $23 million and it does not include benefitting Joe and Jane Ratepayer.
He wants to use this money for the homeless. This begs the question: why is homelessness still an issue, given the amount of money governments at all levels collect in the form of taxes, given the much-vaunted social safety net we all pay for, and given the generous donations made to charitable organizations set up to help the less fortunate ? Citizen Ellie is tired of being "guilted" about homelessness by politicos, social agencies and professional do-gooders. How about you ?
But back to Cullen vs. Watson. Jim Watson is a very skilled, wiley politician and he ain't going to engage himself in a pissing contest any time soon

Ottawa Voters' Coalition Event
Citizen Ellie will be MC-ing a "Candidate Focus Session" being presented by the Ottawa Voters' Coalition (OVC) on Saturday, June 12 from 10.30 a.m. to 12 noon at the Royal Oak (800 Hunt Club Road at Uplands Drive).
Ottawa SUN columnist Walter Robinson will open the event, outlining what voters will expect of candidates in the upcoming municipal election on October 25. He will also review the Ottawa Voters' Coalition founding principles which include revamping the governance structure at city hall and establishing term limits for mayor and councillors.
This is a "by reservation only" event -- you can get your name on the list by contacting OVC at: www.ovc.name/candidatefocus.html

New posts usually on Sunday

Fighting Crime in Ottawa......

A New Edinburgh resident whom we'll refer to as "Citizen Mark" normally stores his bicycle in an area beneath the rear deck of his home. This area is usually secured with a padlock as Citizen Mark's property backs on to one of New Edinburgh's "lanes" -- used by himself and his neighbors to access their garages or other parking for their cars.
Unfortunately for Citizen Mark, the padlock was not in place on the day his bicycle was stolen.
But luck was with Citizen Mark. A couple of days later, he saw an individual riding his stolen bicycle on his street, in front of his house. Imagine the nerve! Talk about criminal returning to scene of the crime !
Citizen Mark, a man of action, immediately jumped into his car and commenced following the stolen bicycle. The first stop -- parking lot of a coffee house on Springfield Road near the Beechwood corner -- where Citizen Mark watched as the guy who'd stolen his bike tried the door handles on about 20 vehicles. Finding none left unlocked, and no easy access to helping himself to stealables, the bicycle thief took off, with Citizen Mark following in his car.
Next stop -- the Union Mission downtown. The thief parked the bicycle outside and went in. Citizen Mark used his cellphone to call Ottawa Police, reporting that he'd not only found his stolen bicycle, but the thief as well.
You'd think that Citizen Mark would be happy he got his bicycle back. He is, but he's also angry that the thief received little more than the proverbial slap on the wrist -- go and steal no more -- after claiming he'd "found" the bicycle.
Turns out that the thief was a tweaker -- one of those crackheads who needs to feed his habit on an almost hourly basis and steals other people's property in order to obtain the wherewithall to do it. In Citizen Mark's view, property crimes are not treated seriously by either the police or the courts and if this continues, it will lead to other types of criminal activity, namely vigilante justice meted out by ordinarily peaceful, law-abiding citizens who are tired of being ripped off.
If you are familiar with the By Ward Market, you're familiar with tweakers. They're the ones with the glassy eyes who hang around at the Pay-n Park kiosks menacing old ladies such as Citizen Ellie who just want to park their cars and buy veggies from the market's vendors without being harassed or threatened. They're the ones who lurk in the stairwells of the city's parking garage demanding "spare change". They're the ones who are quickly turning the By Ward Market area into a "NO GO" zone.
Tweakers are also the ones who break into your home or your car looking for change or anything of value which can be sold on the streets or given in exchange for drugs.
Nowadays we have to turn out homes into fortresses -- motion-sensor security lights, expensive alarm systems, burglar bars on basement windows, stockade-type fences around our yards, gates padlocked from the inside, solid oak entry doors with stainless steel hardware, peepholes in the solid oak entry doors (including the door from garage into house) so we can see who might be trying to get in. We have alarm systems in our cars, not to mention locking wheel nuts and gas caps plus steering wheel and pedal "clubs".
Citizen Ellie knows of what she speaks. She's been the victim of property crime on seven occasions since purchasing her Val-des Monts cottage 30 years ago. In the past two years, she has experienced two break-ins. Last November's, with the attendant vandalism (discharging fire extinguishers inside the place) was the straw that broke the camel's back. Call the MRC des Collines cops ? Might as well forget it -- they can never find the place without a family member leading them to it (strangely the criminals don't seem to have this problem) and they never seem to catch the perpetrators. The solution ? Cottage now sold.
In Citizen Ellie's view, the next logical step in home security is the installation of wrought iron entry/exit door enclosures. If you've seen any news clips on TV from east L.A. or other major U-S citizes, you 've seen these. Citizen Ellie's sister who lives in Cottonwood, Arizona, purchased hers at the local Home Depot. They haven't started to carry them yet at big box home improvement stores in the Ottawa area, but they can be obtained here -- look in the yellow pages under Home Security.
The police budget in Ottawa is huge. The force always seems to be expanding and demanding the latest in technological crime-fighting tools. Chief Vern White now has his own LAV (light armoured vehicle) at a substantial cost to the taxpayers. Despite all the property tax dollars being consumed by policing, ratepayers can't help but feel they're on their own when it comes to protecting their property and their persons from light-fingered tweakers and home invaders.
When Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York City, he made it a priority to change the city's image and set about doing this by ordering the city's various law enforcement agencies to start cracking down on even the smallest offence. People who normally avoided paying for their subway tokens by leaping over the barriers suddenly found themselves being arrested. Obnoxious and threatening beggars were carted off to the slammer. Sleeping in cardboard boxes on 45th. Street was no longer tolerated. Curfews were enforced. Lo and behold a majority of those picked up were found to have criminal records, had jumped bail or were wanted for other offenses. Of course there was the usual hue and cry from the ACLU and other bleeding hearts, but Mayor Rudy persisted and even though he's no longer the mayor, New York City is still a great safe place to visit.
With the municipal election looming in October, it would be interesting to hear what the mayoral and council candidates have to say about cleaning up the city of Ottawa -- please don't pretend that its' reputation as "the big easy" for tweakers, panhandlers and vagrants doesn't exist.
PS: this is a warning to watch your purses and wallets when shopping in area supermarkets. Citizen Ellie knows of three older women who recently had their wallets stolen out of their purses while shopping at the local grocery store. The thieves' modus operandi will be familiar to anyone who has travelled in Europe. One of the thieves distracts the shopper by asking for assistance in finding something or helping to get something down from a high shelf while the other -- sometimes a child -- lifts the wallet from the unsuspecting victim's purse. In Spain, the woman offers a flower or sprig of rosemary to distract the unsuspecting tourist while the child steals the wallet. In Europe, they will come to your front door and use a pretext to get into your house -- emergency need to use the phone, for example -- and if your purse is nearby, your wallet will be taken while you are distracted. Coming soon to Ottawa, perhaps ?

New posts usually on Sundays

Election Off To Slow Start

Must be hard to come up with a political platform when your one great claim to fame is taxing and spending. Could that be why mayor wannabe Alex Cullen has taken refuge under the cone of silence -- keeping Ottawa ratepayers in the dark as long as possible about what he plans if elected to the city's top job in October ?
Jim Watson, considered the frontrunner in the so-far yawn of a campaign, held his kick-off event a week ago without much fanfare -- but at least we know he's leaning towards the cautionary and the conservative when it comes to new programs and more spending. Watson -- the uncrowned king of the city's new culture of frugality ?
One good thing about this campaign is that property owners are taking more interest. There are now three credible taxpayer organizations on the scene and this is good news for the beleaguered ratepayer.
The Ottawa Taxpayer Advocacy Group (OTAG) has been around the longest and while the organization got off to a slow start, it has come up with a sensible "litmus test" for incumbents and newbies vying for council seats.
"No new money" is their theme -- not "zero means zero" which is unattainable. "No new money" is now the operating imperative at the federal level, and has been somewhat replicated by the province in its latest budget.
"No new money" means that if there's to be a new initiative, it must be funded out of existing departmental budgets. At the federal level, there's a two-year departmental budget freeze and deputy ministers know that new programs and new hires mean staff cuts and program cuts elsewhere in the department in order to fund the new program and new hires. No more automatic dipping into reserves, running a deficit or hands deeper in taxpayer pockets.
OTAG sees no reason why something similar couldn't be implemented at city hall. The Ottawa Citizen's municipal affairs columnist Randall Denley, who's not been an OTAG fan, supports "no new money" and noted in a recent column that such an initiative was an important tool in a move towards fiscal restraint. OTAG is proposing a two-year departmental budget freeze and uses the recent decision to purchase 226 new buses using borrowed money as an example of how it would work.
If the city gave the New Flyer company 226 old buses and received 226 new buses in exchange, it would be a good deal. However in order to get the 226 new buses, the city must cough up $155 million for a depreciating asset. On the assumption that this purchase meets long-term LRT needs, that the costs are accurate, that the interest on the borrowed money is included in the cost, and "long term" means five years, then in August, when the new buses are expected to arrive, OC Transpo should be reducing its parts and labor budget by 15% and taking other measures to ensure that these buses will pay for themselves within five years. The salient point here is that in the private sector, money would not be borrowed to purchase a depreciating asset unless in the long-term, said asset was going to make more money than it cost to buy it with the borrowed money. If OC Transpo can't find the funds through cost reductions within its own house, then because it's a core service, there is a business case to find the money by postponing some capital projects such as the new central library or, by (heaven forbid !) cutting the budgets in other non-core services at city hall such as communications, HR, corporate services, administration, finance etc. Simple. No rocket science required here ! You can learn more about OTAG by accessing their excellent web site at http://www.ottawataxpayer.com/ .
The Ottawa Voters' Coalition (OVC) how has its very professional-looking website up and running and it can be accessed at http://www.ovc.name/ . This organization is interested in governance, recognizing that the current council set-up does not work. OVC advocates redrafting ward boundaries, reducing the number of ward councillors and re-establishing a Board of Control or executive committee which would see the mayor plus four others elected city-wide. Why does the current council set-up not work ? Too few of the current bunch can see beyond their ward boundaries. No " big picture" vision among this crowd and that's been the curse of amalgamation.
The third ratepayer group which has come to the fore is the Carleton Landowners' Association. It represents rural ratepayers who believe (and rightly so) that they were shafted by amalgamation -- in that they're now paying for city services which they don't receive. These are people who chose to live outside the city's boundaries, who chose to live with septic tanks and wells and do without other amenities in order to have lower property taxes. They were dragged into amalgamation kicking and screaming, they've seen their property taxes increase and they're mad !
These three organizations have come together to host a "Taxpayer Cocktail" this afternoon from 3.00 to 5.00 p.m. in the Hungarian House at 43 Capital Drive in Nepean. They're invited all the candidates in the upcoming municipal election to attend and present their platforms.
Only three incumbents -- Councillors Marianne Wilkinson, Doug Thompson and Rick Chiarelli -- are among the attendees but some 17 hopefuls have signed on. Representatives from OTAG, OVC and the Landowners will talk about their respective organizations, MP Pierre Poilievre will address the federal government's departmental budget freeze, MPP Norm Sterling will discuss reforming the municipal electoral process and MPP Lisa MacLeod will speak about the "Truth In Government" Bill coming before the provincial legislature.
Is the poor showing on the part of incumbents a reflection of what seems to be the view held by more than a few of them that they can't be unseated ? Some of them will learn, come October, that this was not the election year to treat voters with disdain. Arrogance doesn't cut it when taxpayer anger reaches the level it has now reached in Ottawa. A lot of us will be going to the polls determined to vote for anyone but the incumbent !

New posts usually on Sundays. Next post on May 9.

A Fable For Our Time.......

It's the summer of 2011. Ottawans have lived for a year now with a 25 per cent increase in hydro rates which was introduced in the summer of 2010. Interesting things have been happening as the citizenry struggles to make ends meet, having also been burdened with a huge water rate increase, property tax hikes in excess of inflation and a new provincial HST which has added an additional cost to just about everything they purchase, including funerals -- the latter having caused a near-stampede at funeral homes by senior citizens trying to make their "arrangements" prior to the new tax coming into effect.
In an effort to effect economies, lights and electricity-consuming devices have been turned off all over the place.
Canadian Tire can't keep up with the demand for hurricane lanterns, kerosene lamps, lamp oil and candles.
COSTCO outlets are mobbed when gas generators are on sale -- Joe and Jane Lunchpail having learned that it's cheaper to run certain appliances off a gas generator than it is to use hydro.
More people are doing the bulk of their cooking outdoors -- on barbecues, hibachis, turkey fryers and two-burner camp stoves. The smell of propane and charcoal hangs in the air.
The clothesline has made a comeback.
The freezer has become a repository where electricity-sucking X-Boxes, WIIs, PS3's, Game-Boys, computers etc. are stored under lock and key -- only to be brought out on special occasions.
Teenagers no longer hang out at malls. They're needed at home to hang out the laundry which they've washed by hand after they've washed the family's dishes by hand.
In winter, thermostats are turned way down and Stanfield's one-piecers are the latest fashion accessory. People learn to live with sweltering summer temperatures -- movie theatres are packed for every showing because they have air conditioning.
Folks shop for perishable foods and dairy products on a daily basis, having converted from the 15-cubic foot fridge to the bar-sized model which sucks far less juice.
City council no longer frets about cow statues on fromagerie roofs. The problem of unsightly clotheslines in Kanata and Rockcliffe, not to mention the increasing number of rooftop and backyard electricity-generating windmills has their collective knickers in a twist.
Senior citizens are now in demand to give advice and guidance -- especially depression babies who remember what it was like to live with the icebox, the daily shopping, the outdoor clothesline and the hand-cranked radio.............
The premier of Ontario and the mayor of Ottawa congratulate the citizenry for their efforts to conserve electricity. The comes the bad news. Efforts have been so successful that Ottawa Hydro is no longer generating sufficient revenue to meet its operating costs ! Ottawa Hydro must increase its base rate !
Think it can't happen ? Well it just did-- with Ottawa's water/sewer rates. Bad enough that taxpayers are hit with a nine per cent increase in these rates, but now we're going to have to pay a higher base rate because we've taken water conservation to heart and are using less of it in our daily lives.
Citizen Ellie always believed conservation should be rewarded. Silly me ! Apparently this is not the view held by elected officials in the city of Ottawa -- where conserving is deserving of a penalty in the form of an additional hike in water/sewer rates.

Urban Chicken Update

Popular Montreal chef and TV personality Ricardo Lavallee (Ricardo & Friends, 7.00 p.m. Mon.-Fri., The Food Channel) has come out in support of the urban chicken movement.

In the most recent edition of his glossy magazine (Ricardo -- which is found everywhere French-language magazines are sold) he writes of his love for his "poules" (hens), his childhood memories of his sisters feeding the hens his father had introduced to their Quebec backyard and how he hopes to see Montreal and Chambly follow cities such as New York and Vancouver in allowing residents to keep small flocks of hens. Nothing better than stepping out the backdoor into the garden henhouse and gathering some nice fresh eggs for breakfast. If it happened here, in Citizen Ellie's neighborhood we'd have to figure out a way to keep the urban raccoons from getting to the eggs first.

New posts usually on Sundays

Show Some Leadership

Councillor Rick Chiarelli is to be commended for putting together a motion which calls on city council to freeze wages of all union-exempt city employees . Said freeze would affect the 700-plus members of the city's "sunshine club" ( persons earning more than $100,000.00 per year) along with the mayor and councillors.
In calling for such a freeze, Councillor Chiarelli is following up on actions already taken at the federal and provincial levels. Unfortunately his motion does not go far enough in that unlike what's happened at the senior levels of government, it does not speak to the issue of a wage freeze for the city's unionized staff.
Federal and provincial unionized employees now know their existing collective agreements will be honored until expiry date. But in the next round of negotiations there will be zero, zilch, nada on the table for wage/benefit increases. In fact federal employees may also face an employer proposal to change how their pension plans are funded.
Councillor Chiarelli's motion should be ammended to contain the same language -- collective agreements honored until expiry date. No wage/benefit offers in the next round of bargaining.
Even though Councillor Chiarelli's motion is silent in regard to a wage freeze for the city's unionized workforce, Councillor (and mayor wannabe) Alex Cullen (who's never met a special interest group or union he didn't like) jumped right into the fray stating that he didn't see why unionized city employees ("little guys" as he calls them) should have to bear the burden.
His thought was echoed by Ottawa and District Labor Council boss Sean McKenny, who did a bit of mild sabre-rattling of his own. Boss McKenny is remembered for his involvement in the trumped-up influence-peddling charges brought against Mayor Larry O'Brien which resulted in that farce of a trial in which all charges against Mayor Larry were dismissed.
Why should the city's unionized work force be exempt from a wage freeze after their collective agreements expire ? Why should they be so privileged when just about every ratepayer in the city has had to or will have to make sacrifices and adjust their lifestyle as a result of the recession ? Why are they any different from the seniors who are trying to make ends meet on fixed incomes and fear being forced out of their homes by ever-increasing property taxes ? Why are they any different from unemployed former Nortel workers and Nortel pensioners ? Why are they different from the working poor -- the folks who toil in retail and the hospitality industry for minimum wage ? Why are they any different from young families where one or both parents are working two jobs to keep up, while at the same time seeing their property taxes exceed their mortgage payments ? What makes the city';s unionized workers so special ? It's time they too stepped up to the plate.
Freezing the wages of elected officials an union-exempt staff is the first step the council has to take if it is serious about bringing wage costs under control.
It's an absolute MUST if the city, as the employer, looks ahead to arbitration in the next round of bargaining. An employer has to justify its position, and if union-exempt staff continue to enjoy wage/benefit increases and bonuses, it makes it very hard to argue that unionized workers should be treated differently.
Arbitrators have to consider the following criteria when making awards: a) the employer's ability to pay in light of its fiscal situation; b) the extent to which services may have to be reduced in light of an arbitrator's decision, if current funding and taxation levels are not increased; c) a comparison of the terms and conditions of employment and the nature of the work performed between the affected employee and other comparable employees in the public and private sectors; d) the economic situation in Ontario and its municipalities; and e) the employer's ability to attract and retain qualified employees.
It's no secret that arbitrators in Ontario -- who are mostly university professors or retired judges -- have been picking the taxpayers' pockets for the past 20 years with their wage awards in the province's public sector which includes health care, education and municipalities. The employer's ability to pay has been honored more in the breach than in the observance. Arbitrators charged with the duty of settling labor disputes in the municipal sector seem to view the property owner as having deep pockets just crammed with dollars to pay more and more taxes and user fees.
Citizen Ellie is optimistic that this attitude is about to change. In centres such as Windsor and Oshawa, populated as they are with scores of unemployed auto workers, teachers are having a hard time justifying their wage/benefit demands to their neighbors who are trying to exist on the dole. Not a pretty situation and likely to spread elsewhere in the province.
The wage/benefit award to the first union past the post usually sets the percentage increases for the next one up. So it would behoove council, as the employer, to ensure that whoever is arguing the city's position before an arbitrator is well-prepared, can negate all those arguments that Ottawa's employees should have parity with their Toronto counterparts, and doesn't forget that the property taxpayer is the true employer of the city's workers. The propoerty owner is the "ghost" at the bargaining tasble. If the city's legal and human resources staff are not up to the task, then this would be THE occasion where the hiring of an outside, experienced employer-side negotiator (i.e. a consultant) would be justified.
So lets hope the current bunch warming the seats at the council table demonstrate they have the guts to take on the task. This is way more important than LRT, BRT, Lansdowne Live etc. all lumped together. Please -- no more of this "we can't take on the unions" crybaby attitude. Yes, you can. Freeze the wages of union exempt staff. Set an example by freezing your own wages. Get a negotiating team which is ready to fight hard for a better deal with the unions. Show some leadership !

New posts usually on Sundays

Scofflaw (1)

Mayor Larry O'Brien is on the right track with his call to move OC Transpo into an "arm's length" relationship with city council.
Mayor Larry envisions OC Transpo operations overseen by a group of appointed "commissioners" -- something like a hospital board but with a bit more power.
The troubled transit operation was in the news again earlier this week -- the Canadian Human Rights Commission levied yet another fine because some bus drivers are still failing to comply with the Commission's order to call out the stops. While $12,000 is pretty small stuff in the grand scheme of city spending, it's giving taxpayers a hissy fit.
The apologist for the bus drivers, Councillor Alex Cullen who, in addition to chairing the city's transit committee, is one of the mayor wanna-be's, appeared on the local TV news to speak to the penalty issue.
Just a few more months until the new fully automated equipment which will announce the stops (equipment which, incidentally is costing taxpayers a bundle) is installed, he advised. It will be operational in the fall. Besides, it's only a few (about 20 per cent) of the drivers who are not calling out the stops. Some 80 per cent are complying. Nothing to worry about here.
Wonder how the councillor would feel if only 80 per cent of the taxpayers paid their property tax. Wonder how he'd feel if his stipend was reduced by 20 per cent. Bet he wishes his visually-impaired nemesis (the gentleman who should be awarded an Order of Canada for his work on behalf of the differently-abled) would take his white cane and his seeing eye dog and disappear into the woodwork.
This situation should have been resolved long ago. And it would have, if only, if only OC Transpo management and their bosses on city council had brass balls.
It would appear OC Transpo management and their city council bosses believe workers who are union members can't be fired. Not true. It may take a little longer to do it and managers need clear support and direction from their superiors.
"Progressive discipline" is how it's done. First comes the verbal warning, then the written warnings, then the 1-day suspension, then the 3-day suspension and if all that fails to correct the peoblem, the discharge. Arbitrators have recognized the difference between "can't do" and "won't do" and there are plenty of precedents for the discipline and eventual discharge of employees who "won't do." Bus drivers who persist in refusing to call out the stops despite being told by their employer to do it fall into the "won't do" category.
Obviously the will to implement progressive discipline in this instance hasn't been there given the fact this has been going on since 2007, when the Canadian Human Rights Commission ordered stops to be called out on OC Transpo routes. Apparently the view at city hall, is that it's easier to stiff the taxpayers for the cost of an expensive automated stop-calling system than it is to insist the workers do the job for which they are being paid. If, back in 2007, city council had advised OC Transpo management that "won't do" wouldn't be tolerated and heads would roll, the stiuation today would be very different. Bus drivers would be calling out the stops and taxpayers wouldn't be shelling out the dough.
Visually-impaired Ottawans are not the only folk who benefit from having bus operators call out the stops. During the winter months, this city's bus windows are so coated with grime that one needs Superman's X-ray vision to see through the dirt and read the street signs.
The mayoral campaign will be in full swing and we'll have heard from Councillor Cullen ad nauseam just about the time Ottawa's buses are supposed to start rolling equipped with the new automated stop-calling system. By October, it will have taken nearly four years for the city to comply with the Camadian Human Rights Commission directive. This was a transit committee matter. Councillor Cullen heads the transit committee. It's not something to be proud of. Where was the leadership ?
Meanwhile, kudos to the visually-impaired complainant who has persisted despite the odds, and to the Canadian Human Rights Commission for making Ottawa's city council look like a bunch of eunuchs.

Scofflaw (2)

Good news this week that the city now has the power to add unpaid fines to property tax bills. Guess what -- there's $23 million of these fines on the books -- enough to pay for a new arena with four ice surfaces, or part of the LRT system, or the Lansdowne Park restoration.
Bad news. There's another $12 million in outstanding fines which the city has more or less written off -- although the city's deputy-treasurer was quoted as saying that these won't be forgotten.
When the news broke earlier in the week a couple of scofflaws (people who scoff at the law by not paying fines levied against them when they've committed an infraction) appeared on local TVnews compalining about the unfairness of it all now that theyll have to pay up.
In Citizen Ellie's view, the only unfairness is that the rest of us taxpayers, who pay our fines promptly, have been carrying these bozos for years. One could perhaps understand it if the scofflaw was destitute. The ones who allowed themselves to be interviewed appeared to be well-fed and well-dressed owners of cars.

New posts usually on Fridays

New Era Ahead ......As Feds Tighten Belt

"Canadian families and business have accepted the need for restraint. Fairness requires the government too should have to keep costs under control."
Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance

Oh, if only more of our esteemed city councillors had espoused a similar view when the budget decisions were taken last month.
But there's good news on the horizon. The municipal election will be upon us in seven short months and there's every indication there will be a trickle-down effect from the feds' plans to have their employees (who make up a large chunk of this city's labor force) share some of the recession-fighting pain.
Mr. Flaherty's budget couldn't have come at a better time for those of us who want a thorough housecleaning at city hall. It couldn't have come at a worse time for the tax-and-spend chardonnay socialists who dominate council.
Imagine this: Joe Public Servant and his wife Jan (also a public servant) are sitting at their kitchen table looking at the city's interim property tax bill which has just arrived -- payment due on March 18, thank you very much !
Joe and Jan have just learrned that while they will still receive their 1.5 per cent negotiated wage increase this year, they are staring at a two-year wage freeze down the road. Their benefits could also be in for a revamping. Joe and Jan have just learned that their 1.5 per cent wage increase has to come out of their departments' existing budget. There will be no extra monies for wage increases. Wage increases can be covered in only a few ways -- elimination of fat and waste in existing programs, elimination of existing programs or (oh shock !!!) layoffs. Not good news.
Joe and Jan are looking at a property tax increase of 3.77 per cent, and a whole mess of so-called "rate increases" which are, in fact, tax increases which the dunderheads at city hall think they can hide under euphemisms such as "water and sewer charge". Not good news either.
Joe and Jan never thought much about municipal politics in the past. Never bothered to vote in municipal elections. Thanks to regular wage increases, excellent benefit coverage and iron-clad job security, they were able to afford the mortgage on their lovely Glebe home and property tax was just another unpleasantness which had to be faced twice a year. Not any more.
Mr. Flaherty's budget has changed all that. Fearing the worst, Joe and Jan now have to control their costs and suddenly property taxes, sewer and water charges, increased OC Transpo fares and paying for waste removal are front and center. Who are these people who represent us at City Hall ? How come it costs so much to live in this city ?
Joe and Jan are going to start asking these questions now -- starting with their ward councillor. Info, including councillors' e-mail addresses and phone numbers is readily avilable on the city's web site -- www.ottawa.ca. Joe and Jan plan to educate themselves in order to be ready to vote in October.
Joe and Jan also are heeding what economists are saying; next year's federal budget will be even tougher. Those who toil for the feds will be thinking very carefully about the folks they send to city hall for the next four years. There's no place for tax-and-spend social engineers in the reality of the new Ottawa environment. We need real engineers and successful private sector types at city hall who'll go out and really sell Ottawa as a place to do business, attracting good-paying jobs to replace all those which are going to disappear in the federal service, in health care and in education. Something at which the current council has been a dismal failure, just lackadaisically coasting along, thinking the good times would last forever.
We need to elect tough, hard-nosed people who will tell all those organizations which think its their right to tap into the property tax base to get off their duffs, to get out and raise their operating funds in the community or fold up their tents and disappear if they can't make it without a grant or loan from the ratepayers.
Yes, Ottawa was relatively cushioned from the ravages of the recession. But people in other parts of the country who bore the burden have made their feelings known to the Harper government. And while the economy is looking better, happy days are not here again in Ottawa.

Did My Ears Deceive Me ?

Did Citizen Ellie hear it right ? Was that council's queen of social engineering Diane Holmes telling the Great Canadian Theatre Company that they should do a better job of garnering community support when they came to council with their hands out looking for $175,000.00 of taxpayers' money ? Must be an election year, the taxpayers are getting restless and the geriatric councillor is looking for another four years at the trough.

New posts usually on Fridays